title: Biomarkers in the management of ulcerative colitis: a brief review.
abstract: Several attempts have been made in the last two decades to investigate ulcerative colitis (UC) patients during the natural course of the disease so as to identify appropriate surrogate markers of disease activity. Most patients with quiescent inflammatory bowel disease have low grade inflammation and it is possible that relapse occurs only once the inflammatory process crosses a critical intensity. Since inflammation is a continuous process, its direct assessment may provide us a quantitative pre-symptomatic measure of imminent relapse. If substantial, it may allow targeted treatment early, to avert relapse or formulate newer therapeutic strategies to maintain symptomatic remission. It is clinically very important to identify these patients at a subclinical stage, noninvasively, by various biomarkers. Biomarkers help to gain an objective measurement of disease activity as symptoms are often subjective. Biomarkers also help to avoid invasive procedures which are often a burden to the patient and the health care system. If an ideal biomarker existed for UC, it would greatly facilitate the work of the gastroenterologist treating these patients. Both "classical" and "emerging" biomarkers of relevance for UC have been studied, but the quest for an ideal biomarker still continues. In this brief review we describe various biomarkers of clinical importance.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. ibrahimmasoodi@yahoo.co.in
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Masoodi
authors.forename: Bashir M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Tijjani
authors.forename: Hamidullah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wani
authors.forename: Nadeem Syed
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Hassan
authors.forename: Arshad Bashir
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Shabnum
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hussain
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D007781:Lactoferrin / Q000378:metabolism; D039841:Leukocyte L1 Antigen Complex / Q000378:metabolism; D009195:Peroxidase / Q000378:metabolism; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D039841:Leukocyte L1 Antigen Complex; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D009195:Peroxidase; D007781:Lactoferrin